Doctor to many, mother to three, wife to one. I run, I blog, I cross-stitch.

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Burnt.

Further to my post yesterday, I haven’t had any extended time off from my practice since July, 2014. When my receptionist pointed that out to me, I was kind of surprised. I’ve taken a few long weekends here and there but yeah, I haven’t really had a break from my job in well over a year.

It’s no wonder I’m a little cranky.

My older colleagues regularly take a month off every summer and at least a week or two in the winter. They can afford to do so as their children are now all grown up and out of the house. I am not in that position yet. I still have a mortgage and other debt to pay off and I wonder sometimes if I ever will?

I love my job but it’s hard to listen to other people’s problems day in and day out. Most of the time I can help solve the problem; here’s an antibiotic for tonsillitis; here’s a pill for your awful irregular periods, or here’s a great physiotherapist for your chronic ankle sprain. If that was the extent of the problems I would be fine without a regular holiday. But it’s not like that in family medicine. In family medicine I see the wife who found out her husband is having an affair; I see the schizoaffective patient off their meds; I see the teenager with anger management issues displaying cluster B traits (borderline personality disorder) who bounces from one psych unit t to the next; I see the elderly woman with memory problems who doesn’t remember she has memory problems.

I am privy to the knowledge that a wife plans to leave her husband, who is also my patient and is about to be blindsided. I am privy to the knowledge of a history of horrific childhood abuse and the subsequent psychological damage that does to a person. I am privy to the knowledge that a 40-something year old man really wants to be a woman.

It is a privilege to be these people’s family physician, it really is.

I had a week off in July, and I am still super-cranky. Hell, I just enjoyed a long weekend, and I’m cranky.. Maybe in order to really re-balance, we doctors need a little more time off? Or maybe I need to learn how to truly unplug… Dr. Mom, do you log into work when you’re on vacation?

I have a doctor covering my practice while I am away, so I don’t need to check any labs or consults and such. I hope not to log in at all while away but that depends on how some patients are doing. And if I desperately need a break from my kids I may find an excuse to log in. 😉

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Disclaimer

Any office scenarios described here have been altered to protect the patient's privacy. This blog is not intended to offer clinical advice. If you are concerned about your health, get off Dr. Google and please go see your doctor. Any similarity to any person living or dead is merely coincidental.

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